The Tyrone Area School District has been awarded grant money to participate in a program designed to increase the rigor of its high school curriculum.
Gov. Ed Rendell is backing the initiative, Project 720, according to Tyrone Area assistant superintendent Joann Lang.
“What it will do is give us an opportunity to look at our high school,” said Lang. “Through our grant, at least, (it allows us) to take a look at our course work, our vocational department, and see what we can do to help get these kids ready for career pathways to prepare them for the workplace.
“There’s a gamut of things we expect to do,” said Lang. “We will take a look at our math course. We have to add another math course. Part of our commitment is to increase our math classes we offer.”
Lang said the English department and other courses would be reviewed. The grant for the program is through the state’s department of education. Lang said the school district received $66,000 for the upcoming school year. She said the grant is for three years so the district is projected to receive the same amount for an additional two years, making the overall grant almost $200,000.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education said on its Project 720 website, a goal had been set to see all students in the state “graduate from high school prepared to enter college and the high-skills workforce.”
High school principal Rebecca Erb said the project is designed to “enhance the post-secondary access for students who go on to a career or higher education.” She also said the project is designed to help students become “active and productive citizens.”
The Project 720 website noted its name is derived from the number of days a student spends in high school from the beginning of ninth grade to the end of 12th grade. The PDE said the program “will help transform Pennsylvania’s high schools so that every student can succeed.”
Forty-one school districts participated during the 2004-05 year, and the 2005-06 Budget provides $4.7 million to double the number of participating school districts to 80. With this expansion, nearly 20 percent of Pennsylvania school districts will be involved in Project 720. Tyrone was the only Blair County school chosen to participate in the initiative.
The PDE said the initiative’s objectives are designed to:
• Help students earn college credit before graduating from high school. The 2005-06 state budget signed by Governor Rendell includes $5 million to fund Dual Enrollment Programs for high school students to take college-level, credit-bearing courses at local community colleges and four-year colleges and universities. These courses will also count towards high school graduation requirements. Pennsylvania\’s dual enrollment program also emphasizes early college, middle college, and gateway to college programs. State funds will be targeted to at-risk students, academically challenged school districts, and the Project 720 sites;
• Upgrade “Vo-Tech” for the 21st century- nearly 100,000 Pennsylvania high school students enroll in a Career & Technical Education (CTE) program during their high school career. CTE must be dramatically improved so that students are held to high academic standards and receive training for high-demand occupations and
• Create seamless Transitions from High School to Higher Education- Pennsylvania must align its high school and postsecondary education in order to better serve students. The Commonwealth will explore using the 11th grade statewide reading and math assessments as college entrance and placement exams and will create a statewide transfer policy between two-and four-year public higher education institutions to ensure that students can move their credits from one institution to another – and that the credits count in their major field.
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For more information: www.project720.org
